THE newly appointed Inspector General of Police Kakoma Kanganja will execute his duties professionally because he is a man of integrity that he has demonstrated in his previous portfolios, says Zambia Direct Democracy Movement (ZDDM) vice president Charles Kafumbo.

Mr Kafumbo said that Mr. Kanganja’s appointment should not be trivialised or politicised because Zambia needed serious-minded officers in the service to come out of the 2016 elections without threats of any civil war.

Mr. Kafumbo said it was important that Zambians, regardless of their political affiliations, supported the new IG as that would be the only way he was going to deliver according to their expectations.

He observed that there was nothing new in politics about Mr. Kanganja because he had interacted with politicians before when he was working at the Registrar of Societies, adding that his appointment was a continuation of the relationship he had with politicians in his previous portfolio. “There is no need for anyone to trivialise or politicise the appointment of Mr. Kanganja because he has demonstrated before that he can be trusted with public office as he had done exceptionally well while he was working at the Registrar of Societies.

“He is a man of integrity and experience. He is a professional whose credibility you cannot doubt because he has interacted with us politicians before and his records are there to show that he can work in the position (as IG),” Mr. Kafumbo said.

Mr. Kafumbo has since called on Mr. Kanganja to call for a meeting with all political parties to dialogue over the contentious Public Order Act which he said was a source of many clashes between the police and political parties.

“Our proposal for now is that our new IG should call for dialogue with all politicians from all political parties especially over the Public Order Act which has brought a lot of controversies among political players and the police.

“He should also ensure that he restored public confidence on the police by making sure that no caderism was tolerated among the police officers.”

And FDD says change in the police hierarchy was not enough to restore professionalism in the Zambia Police Service,.

Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) spokesperson Antonio Mwanza said that there was need for change in the operational system of the police and not individuals.

According to him, changing individuals at the top would not change anything in the manner the police operated, stressing that the unethical and unprofessional conduct of the police would continue as long as the system remained the same.

He reiterated that there was need to review and amend the Police Act and bring it in tune with the country’s democratic principles.

He said that the police should be free from political interference if professionalism is to be restored.

“If you see how the police work, it’s not free. There is too much political interference, and for as long as it remains like that, the police would always be considered unprofessional and corrupt,” he said.

“As FDD we do not believe the new Inspector General of Police Kakoma Kanganja will do anything different under the current Police Act; so there is nothing new and different to expect,” he said.